Man, I really should have uploaded this when the game was just released! But I stand by everything I said. If you haven’t played a game like Invisible, Inc., you haven’t played a game quite like it. It delivers a whole new breed of stealth gameplay that works fantastically and delivers consistently unique and interesting levels for sneaking, hacking, occasionally stunning/killing guards, and dashing to the exit. All this is conveyed through a pitch-perfect cyberpunk lens, under the framework of rebelling against a corporate regime using cunning tactics. Thematically, tonally and mechanically, the game just works so well. I love it and so should you.

Jibe from Jarenth:

Those of you who’ve been following my work for a little longer now probably know that I’m usually not big on repetition. I know a lot of games build themselves up on the joy of replayability, but that’s almost never been my jam. I much prefer one single good telling of a story over running through minor variations on the theme repeatedly, and I just tend to get bored with doing the same mechanical stuff over and over and again. As a rule, I’d much rather play something fresh (from the ever exponentially expanding list of available video games) than participate in the same experience twice, or thrice, or more.

I am really feeling the desire to go play Invisible, Inc. again.

Without wishing to repeat Past Podcast Jarenth, let me just say this: Invisible, Inc. is excellently built for repeated play. It builds up your staple of characters and tools to choose from, it has enough micro-variation in missions and corporations to feel fresh, and any single run through the game is both long enough to feel meaningful, and short enough not to feel like too major an investment.

In fact, looking at it like I do now, it’s almost a mistake to judge Invisible, Inc. as a story-driven game. It’s much more analogous to games like The Binding Of Isaac. Or sports games, almost. You have the same basic mechanics, goals, and tools every time, but it’s the actions — both yours and your opponents’ — that shape each individual narrative.

One comment

I have been pretty keen to grab Invisible Inc since I heard Ninjustin gushing about it either twitter or your early access discourse dojo, still not pulled the trigger though. Not sure when I would get around to actually playing it.